Makeup To Make You Feel Good | What’s In My Makeup Bag

I’m sure you’ve seen the meme. The one which says something about having two moods. Or two modes and no in-between when it comes to makeup. Maximum glam and a fully beat face. Or vaguely resembling a swamp monster. I always chuckle when I see it because it’s scarily accurate. I’m very much guilty of being all or nothing when it comes to makeup. My ‘no makeup’ makeup look included 7000 products. And took a good hour. My makeup bag consisted of four drawers, filled with products. There was no traveling light. Or just throwing a few things in my handbag to touch up.

Who has time for that? I don’t. So when working from home, taking a flight or having a weekend in, I frequently ditched the makeup. I’ve woken up late and had to make a mad dash for work, sans makeup. Only to have people ask me all day if I’m ok, or feeling well. In contrast to layers of makeup, my natural skintone is quite pale. And people aren’t used to seeing it.

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Makeup is supposed to make us feel good. But it’s easy to lose sight of what we’re trying to achieve. I found myself feeling really insecure about the pores on my cheeks. They looked so noticeable. And initially my reaction was to try and add more makeup to cover them.

I quickly realised that whilst primer, full coverage foundation and copious amounts of under-eye concealer may be perfect for photographing. It’s not ideal for every day. I’d then emphasise that unwanted texture with a load of powder highlighter. And feel rubbish whenever I noticed it.

I set myself a little challenge. To go back to basics. I wanted to go back to wearing a little bit of makeup every day. And focusing less on trying looks I’d seen online. I love playing with makeup and trying new things, but somehow whilst my blending has improved and I can now do a cut crease, I had stopped paying attention to the basics.

Everyday Makeup

I’m not suggesting minimal makeup is what should be worn every day. Far from it. But for me, I knew the fewer products the better. What would I grab if I had to do my makeup in the car? Or take on holiday with me? What makeup do I feel naked without? During hot Summer days, what would I wear as a bare minimum?

What’s In My Makeup Bag?

For me, the majority of my focus goes to the base. My skin is pretty pale and I have redness I prefer to cover. One of my reasons for not bothering to wear makeup when working from home, is if it feels uncomfortable. So anything included in my ride or die products should be lightweight. Ease of application is important too. I love cream contour and highlighting but there’s no denying it takes longer. And as I’m a bit rubbish at applying it, it normally requires blending out. Whilst a bit of mascara goes a long way towards making me feel more human, anything unessential has been omitted from this list. Think desert island. Only where they allow you to bring 6 things instead of 1. Because 1 is impossible!

Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base

A good base is essential. I find wearing primer helps foundation last longer, but also makeup look less caked. I reviewed this Bobbi Brown Face Base a while ago and am still very much loving it. It’s a skincare / makeup hybrid which acts as a moisturiser too. It doesn’t add colour or texture, so has worked well under any foundation I’ve tried it with.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation

My absolute favourite foundation. Of any I’ve tried. I wore this on my wedding day. And find myself going back to it all the time. It’s medium coverage but buildable with lovely even colour. I find it does an excellent job of covering unwanted redness, whilst not blocking out all of my skins natural varying tones underneath. It’s not sheer, just magic as the name suggests.

Charlotte Tilbury Rockstar Bronze & Glow Palette

As I do go for a lot of coverage with my foundation, I find not adding some variation with contouring and highlighting looks a bit strange. I adore this palette. The colours are absolutely perfect for my skintone, which makes applying it a doddle. I can carve out my cheekbones, nose and add a bit of the depth back around my forehead. All without the need to blend. The highlight shade is subtle but looks very flattering on. Charlotte Tilbury describes it as a candle lit glow which I think is a perfect description. Unusually the contour shade has very finely milled shimmer through it too. I personally normally hate glittery highlighters, never mind contour powders! But actually it’s not noticeable on the skin and helps it look more natural than a totally matte formula which can look powdery. I’ve been using this palette every day for the past two months and it’s barely removed the press.

A lot of Charlotte Tilbury features in my makeup bag -unintentionally- but I have to say, I feel her range is worth the slightly more expensive price tag. Everything is so carefully formulated and with multiple benefits. I really love using her products.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Whiz

Brows are absolutely essential. I just feel so naked without them. My poor eyebrows have suffered at the hands of my tweezers in the early 2000s. When it was seemingly cool to pluck them into oblivion. And naturally all I have left are two thin lines. With an annoying chunk missing from one. No amount of letting them grow has worked and I don’t dare shave them off. Just in case they never come back.

So a good brow pencil is a must. And I love Brow Whiz from Anastasia Beverly Hills. It’s another product I picked for my wedding makeup. And that I’ve continued to repurchase. I can quickly sort my brows out with this, with minimal effort. Even in a moving car. Making a mental note to add that to my LinkedIn.

Benefit Gimmie Brow

I love using a pomade like Dip Brow -also from Anastasia Beverly Hills- to do my brows if I have time. But for quick days, a brow gel is a great compromise. It helps blend it all together and make the drawn on parts and real eyebrows live together harmoniously.

Nude Lipstick

Nude lipsticks are my favourites. I feel like they tie everything together. Whilst I love a nude lip in any tone, for daily wear and minimal makeup I find shades closer to my lip colour are easiest to wear. I recently wrote about the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick. I’ve not stopped wearing it. It feels moisturising on the lips and is so comfortable. Plus it goes with just about anything. I said in my last post that because the lipsticks in this range were a bit pricey, I wouldn’t be collecting them. But I’ve already fallen in love with other shades. After wearing this lipstick repeatedly and adoring the formula, I think it’s safe to say I’ll be picking up a few more. Naturally in nude shades because you can never have too many.

What’s In Your Makeup Bag?

I’ve been wearing these essential products every day and really enjoying it. Even if I want to make more of an effort, this stripped back base works well for me. And speeds everything up. For times when I’m in less of a rush, I add a matte neutral eye with my beloved Tarte In Bloom palette. Some mascara and an eyeliner flick.

What are some of your favourite products? Do you have any you take around with you? I’d love to hear what your ride or die makeup products are. The daily essentials you keep in your makeup bag.

I picked up a Charlotte Tilsbury lipstick in Pillow Talk – never looking back! It’s joined the (uh, I think there’s at least five?) other lipsticks I keep in my handbag, ready to go. It’s so luscious and the colour is the perfect nude. Does the CT Foundation mentioned work well with sensitive skin?

I think lipsticks secretly breed in handbags. From what I’ve heard, yes! But my skin is pretty resilient and so can’t say for 100%, they give samples at the counter so it might be worth trying / making sure with them X

I love Bobbi Browns Vitamin Enriched Face Base. I learned about it on JS Snapchat. I can’t live without it. I can, but I see the difference. LOL I’ve always wanted to try CT’s Foundation. I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks for these suggestions Amy.

My make-up bag is otherwise known as the front pocket of my backpack and consists of 2 items – foundation (bare minerals) and mascara (I can’t remember what it’s called but it’s green). Which is NOTHING but still, when I go completely bare-faced I, like you, am frequently asked if I’m feeling okay. One time they sent me home in work because they didn’t trust that I wasn’t about to keel over and die.
Anyway, as an alleged grown-up now I feel like I *should* make more of an effort (because fancy meetings and stuff) so this post was pretty useful for someone as clueless as me to see the basics of things are supposed to go on faces. (that sentence makes sense?)

Haha ‘green’ by ‘not sure’. Coming to stores 2018. It’s funny how much of a difference it makes, I assume people would be able to see through a bit of foundation but clearly not. I think if you want to make more of an effort, the simpler the better. There’s definitely nothing wrong with just bothering with the basics! I’m barely bothering with brushing my hair at the moment haha

I’m definitely all or nothing when it comes to makeup as well, even when I try to do a natural/minimal look. But if I really had to narrow it down to just a few products, foundation cushion, brow pencil, eyeliner, and lipstick would definitely be my top picks. Also, I think I may be the last person on earth who hasn’t tried CT makeup yet!

Rosy Ferry

17th August 2017 at 7:38 am

I related to this so much, I am a full face or nothing at all girl too and I also agree that while piling it all on can look great on camera, it sometimes doesn’t translate well to ‘in person’ as I definitely notice my unwanted texture more that way. I also love the CT magic foundation but for some reason I can’t get it to last longer than 4-5 hours without breaking up 🙁

You sound like me. I either do full glam or no makeup whatsoever. Sometimes I’ll do a minimal makeup look but then I get carried away. However, sometimes I can just rock the concealer, mascara, cream blush and lipstick. I love Gimme Brow!

I’m a total all or nothing girl too! And I’ve been trying to get quick makeup back into my routine. Having just a little makeup on makes me feel better instantly. Lately I’ve been loving NYX’s Perfect Filter Palettes and my go-to foundation is Clarins Everlasting Foundation 🙂

For me it’s eyeshadow… without my eyes on I just don’t feel like me. I keep going back to Urban Decay Naked Palettes – any of them as I have 4 of them so far. Loved reading this and it has made me want to try some CT products straight away!! xoxox

See I wish I could make more of an effort with eyeshadow, especially as I have hooded lids but most of the time if I’m not going somewhere, I don’t bother! Love the Naked palettes <3

Yiotou_La

20th August 2017 at 4:11 pm

I am all or nothing too, but lately I have been using less products since I have been on vacation and I was using a tinted spf and lipgloss only. That CT nude lipstick looks fab, I need to try CT since I haven’t tried anything yet and their lipsticks are gorgeous, everyone seems to love them! Happy Sunday Amy xx

I love the bronze and glow too, and the gimme brow, I have recently gotten my eldest into having her brows waxed and tinted and using gimme brow, she is hooked now. Have you tried the NYX Micro brow pencil? It’s a great dupe for the brow wiz and a lot cheaper xxxx

I think that’s the way to be! We all have our beauty mistakes haha I know I’ve committed many a beauty sin in the past (/now probably). Ah that’s a shame! I was wearing the wrong one for a while. That sounds ideal for everyday! X

You’re right, the base is so important and that’s pretty much where I focus a lot of my attention too! xx In my makeup bag, I’ve simply got to have a lippie! x I love a good ‘my lips but better shade’ for everyday! x Fab post Amy! x
Marina xhttps://marinawriteslife.blogspot.fr/

You have some great products. I used to wear more makeup but have over the years stripped it right back and hardly wear anything now. I would say my essentials are lipstick and mascara. Gemma xhttp://www.jacquardflower.uk

✨Larice ✨

7th September 2017 at 2:33 pm

Couldn’t agree more! The base is so important. And love the products in your makeup bag. My essentials are eyebrow pencil and a nice lipstick. I could (probably) live without the rest haha. Great post! xo Larice